


Providing for the family

by LizCarroll2612



Series: Holmes-Watson-Family [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Family, Johnlockary - Freeform, Multi, Parentlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 19:12:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4191651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizCarroll2612/pseuds/LizCarroll2612
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You are going to bring the baby to a murder scene?" Greg asked.<br/>"John and Mary are working, I'm on baby duty tonight..." Sherlock told him. "So you want me to come or not?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Providing for the family

**Author's Note:**

> I'm incredibly bad in finding titles for my stories. If you can think about a better title than this one please let me know...
> 
> This was supposed to be a How-Lestrade-and-Donovan-found-out-story. But somehow other things came up as well.

It had not been planned, that he would get called in tonight. But Greg had been whining long enough (They got stuck the minute they arrived at the crime scene because there were no clues at all!) that Sherlock finally agreed to come.  
"I'll send someone to collect you!" Greg told him relieved.  
"I'm at John's and Mary's house", Sherlock said. "You certainly have baby seats somewhere in the Yard if you have cases where you deal with children? Tell the driver to get one. I'll have to bring Rose."  
For a while the phone went silent. "You want to bring the baby to a murder scene?" Greg asked.  
"John and Mary are working, I'm on baby duty tonight..." Sherlock told him. "So you want me to come or not?"

Greg wanted him to come. So 45 minutes later he got out of the car at the crime scene. He took Rose out of the car seat and put her into the baby carrier struggling a little while putting her onto his back, while trying to ignore Sally Donovan who stood beside him watching him.  
"If she's in the front you have to be careful not to wake her when you bent forward," he explained. "When she's on the back you can do almost anything, these things really are fantastic!"  
"John didn't take my advice to keep away from you very seriously, if he now even lets you babysit his kid, did he?" she said, while they went over to the crime scene.  
"He lets me do a lot more than babysitting his kid by now!" Sherlock said. "And I'm not sure if babysitting is the right word if you're kind of the third parent."  
They arrived at the area that was lit up by floodlights. Greg stood there waiting for them.  
"You take your duty as best man really seriously, don't you?" Sally asked. "If you consider yourself the third parent to John's kid?"  
Sherlock squatted down beside the body. He looked up at Greg. "You didn't tell her?" he asked.  
"Erm..." Greg said. "No, it... Didn't come up... And considering the circumstances under which I found out I've got to admit that I myself would lead a happier life not knowing..."  
"Found out what?" Sally asked confused  
"Greg walked in on John, Mary and me in the interrogation room in a little compromising situation," Sherlock explained while he studied the dead man's trousers with his magnifying glass. "Although we called that he should wait a minute when he knocked!" He threw Greg an angry glance.  
"I didn't think you really meant "a minute". I didn't know you needed time to get off each other and get yourselves dressed!" Greg called.  
"Jesus..." Sally let out.  
"John and Mary were picking me up because we wanted to go out for our three months anniversary dinner. It was the first night ever that Rose stayed with my parents. You absolutely wanted to take my statement about the case I had just solved before I would leave. You said it would just take a minute and that they could wait with me and then you let us wait for over an hour until you got to us!" Sherlock said. "Excuse us for wanting to utilise the time!"  
"Jesus..." Sally repeated.  
"Something came up, I told you I was sorry!" Greg called. "For letting you wait and really, really sorry for walking in on you! Believe me!"  
"It's surprising that you are so disturbed by our slightly unconventional love life. Especially considering the extravagant preferences you yourself have developed since you started dating that woman you met when your team was raiding the OohLaLa-Club..."  
"How do you..." Greg interrupted him panicking.  
Sherlock snorted. "If you don't want people to know you really should think about which socks to wear!"  
"Socks...?" Greg looked down at his feet. "How do you... Never mind!"  
"You are seriously living together, playing house, sharing responsibility for the kid?" Sally asked doubtfully.  
"Not quite yet," Sherlock answered. "I'm still living at Baker Street, they have their house, although I'm often at their place or they're at mine, but it's still very stressful to drive back and forth all the time."  
Sherlock got up, looking around to get an overview over the scene. Rose on Sherlock's back moved her head a little with the change of position. Finally she sighed contently and nestled her face into Sherlock's coat and fell asleep again.  
"So we are planning on moving in together soon," Sherlock told them, while he went in increasing circles around the body and kept his eyes on the ground. "But I need a place that's more central than their house is. My place is too small for all of us and buying something bigger in the inner city isn't affordable at all. So we haven't decided anything yet."  
He went on his knees again and rubbed some mud between his fingers that seemed to be a little lighter than the rest of the ground around.  
"I really don't get how other families do it, where there are just two grownups who contribute to the family income," he shook his head.  
"Yes, to start a family with a couple consisting of just two people, really is a weird idea..." Greg said sarcastically.  
"It is, isn't it?" Sherlock answered. "I don't get how people do it. Mary and John almost got crazy with the child in the beginning. Since we share the baby duty with three people there are even evenings like tonight when Mary can meet with a friend."  
Sherlock walked over to the body again.  
"Are you more baffled by them being together with three people or that someone would want to be together with him at all?" Greg whispered to Sally.  
"Both, to be honest..." she whispered back.  
Sherlock squirted down again and took a thorough look at the dead man's hands.  
"He was a teacher at a comprehensive school in a western outskirts of London," Sherlock said getting up. "Teaching history, English or a foreign language, I'm not sure about that. You can certainly get lists of the faculty members of schools in that area and find out if someone's missing or compare photographs to the body."  
At that moment Greg's phone started ringing. "Yes...? Yes, I know her," he looked over to Sherlock. "Yes, I'll come..." He ended the call. "Sherlock, come with me," he said and started to walk towards the roads where the cars were parked. Sherlock followed him confused. He had realised that this seemed serious.  
"Mary got arrested..." Greg told him with a low voice. "They called me before they put down anything official, because she mentioned that she knew me."  
"What?!" Sherlock became pale as death. "How... What did she do?"  
"She seemed to have gotten drunk in that club she was in with her friend," Greg said. "She got into a fight. Apparently some guy has a broken nose now..."  
Sherlock sighed with relieve. "Oh... Ok... What are we going to do now?"  
"We're going to get her, persuade the officer in question to not file a report and then we'll take her home. Maybe you should call John and maybe you should think about if it's a good idea you take the baby duty so often if this is what it leads to..."

They dropped Mary's friend Janine off at the train station where she would get the last train to Sussex. The drive home happened in silence.  
When Greg pulled over in front of John's and Mary's house the Watson's car stopped in front of them. Sherlock had called John and he had rushed home as soon as his shift was over. Sherlock took Rose out of the car seat. She started to wake up and was a little cranky.  
John helped Mary out of the car. She had difficulties to keep her balance.  
"What the hell did you do?" he asked.  
"This guy kept hitting on Janine..." Mary slurred. "We told him to get lost all night, he didn't listen, he had it coming."  
"Can I still do something for you?" Greg asked.  
"No, I don't think so, thanks!" John answered.  
"I'll talk to the officer again tomorrow to make sure that he really forgets about this..." Greg said before he got back in the car and drove of.  
Rose had started to cry earnestly now. Mary went over to Sherlock and took her. "Did you feed her?" She asked while they went up the stairs in front of the house.  
"She slept the whole time," he answered. "I didn't use any of the formula and now you're here again."  
"You are certainly not going to nurse her now!" John shouted after they had closed the door behind themselves. "She's going to get alcohol poisoning from you milk."  
Sherlock and Mary looked at him like he had just said the stupidest thing ever.  
"No, she isn't!" Mary said keeping her balance without any problems while standing on one leg when she took of her shoes and held the baby with one arm.  
John stared at her. "What the hell is going on here?" he shouted. "And why the hell does he know..." He pointed at Sherlock. "...and I don't?"  
"I didn't tell him anything," Mary said while she sat down in an armchair in the living room and took Rose to her breast. "If that calms you... I didn't tell both of you but Sherlock obviously figured some things out by himself. What do you know already?"  
"I know that three out of the five times you claimed you went out with Janine you really didn't but you did a job for Mycroft. I know your look when you get texts from him. I saw that look on your face but saw that that look changed immediately after you opened the text. I realised that the texts weren't about some ridiculous question to spy on me but about something you were very interested in. Each time you got such a text you told us the same day that you would meet Janine a few days later. I assume that she knew that she was your alibi and was prepared to tell that you really met her if someone ever should ask about it."  
"What did you do for Mycroft?" John asked still perplexed.  
"Assignments..."Mary answered. "You don't need the details..."  
"You have a kid now, for God's sake!" John shouted. "What do you think happens if you get caught?"  
"I don't get caught!" Mary said. "And I remember that we had had this discussion before."

Mary and John still both worked as Sherlock's assistants beside their main jobs but concerning her involvement in anything that could be dangerous John had been annoyingly eager to keep her out of that since she was pregnant. Sherlock had also been very protective since Rose was born but had become almost as bad as John since they were together.  
As unconventional as Sherlock was and as unconventional as this relationship was, the male protective instinct seemed to kick in for any guy as soon as they had a girlfriend even if it was a shared girlfriend.  
She had had a serious talk with both of them concerning who of the three of them they thought had most experience with handling dangerous situations and why exactly the responsibility for Rose was more a reason for her than for John - or also Sherlock now for that matter - to keep out of these situations.  
They both had assured her, that they just didn’t want to lose her because they loved her so much, but that it of course had nothing to do with her being a woman. She had asked, why exactly they didn’t have any problem to take each other on dangerous assignments, since they were boyfriends now as well and as far as she had understood this were supposed to love each other as much as they loved her.  
They both couldn’t really answer that question and the next dangerous mission would be hers they assured her but strangely enough nothing had come up since then.

"I got a better offer from Mycroft now anyway," she said and took Rose up to put her on the other breast.  
"How the hell could you find out about this and not tell me!?" John asked Sherlock reproachfully.  
"I figured she didn't do anything really dangerous," Sherlock said. "Up to now she just put bugs into some unimportant people's flats or something like that." He looked at Mary musingly. "But tonight something was different. You didn't just need Janine to have an explanation for us why you went out in the evening. For tonight if anybody ever would connect you to whatever you did tonight you would need a real alibi. You didn't just tell her to say she went out with you if someone - presumably just John or myself - should ever ask, you really met her. You made sure to get into trouble in the club to make sure that everyone would remember you. You just left for a short period of time that no one would remember you were gone later. What did you do?"  
Mary looked at both of them. "You still don't need the details but it would be great if one of you would collect a car tomorrow morning that's parked just outside of the four mile radius the police is going to search very thoroughly tonight. I left my rifle in there and it's safer if I don't get it myself."  
John and Sherlock stared at her.  
"Who died in the center of that four mile radius?" Sherlock finally asked with a shaky voice. He was ok with Mary having some fun of her own but he didn't want his brother's assignments to become a threat to their family.  
"You have never heard of him..." Mary said. "No one outside of certain circles has ever heard of the really important people. But let me assure you the world became a slightly better place tonight."  
"Why do you..." John started. "I thought you told me that you quit that job for a reason."  
"I have. That's why I just did this one job and told Mycroft to not approach me about anything else until I ask him to."  
"Then why did you do THIS job?" Sherlock asked.  
Mary smiled. "What do you think the secret service pays for getting rid of a person clean, elegantly and traceless that has been a problem for them for decades?"  
"I don't know..." John said.  
"Enough for us to pay Mrs. Hudson a fair price for Baker Street 221 and not just the friendship price she offered us and that we didn't want to take. Enough for a restoration of 221 c to put it into a state where you can live there with a small child. Enough for rebuilding 221 b and c into one big flat and enough for reconstructing the backyard into a garden where we can put up a swing set and a slide in two years. And there will still be enough left that we will not have to work full jobs and Sherlock will just have to take the cases he really likes for some time."  
John and Sherlock stared at her.  
"And if the money's up and we still don't want to work full time again Mycroft will certainly have some new assignment. But we should keep working a normal day job on part time basis at least, everything else raises too many questions about what we live on."  
"Isn't this something we should have talked about?" Sherlock said. "I mean isn't this what it works like in families? That you talk about how the family income is put together?"  
"If someone decides to take a job with a smaller income that there might not be a sufficient income anymore, so that the others would have to contribute more - that would be something to talk about," Mary said. "But I don't really see how solving all financial problems for the next years within one evening could be something any of you could have anything to object to."  
Sherlock and John looked at Mary, then at each other and then at Mary again. "Unless of course..." Mary said taking Rose up and clapping her back until she burped some milk onto the napkin on Mary's shoulder. "...you guys have a problem with me contributing the complete family income for the next years while you just add some alibi money which is going to be our pocket money in comparison..."  
John cleared his throat. "Well..." he said. "That sounds like we have a really relaxed couple of years ahead of us... Doesn't it, Sherlock?!" He poked Sherlock in the ribs.  
Sherlock still stared at Mary. "Yes..." he finally said. "Yes, sure..."

After the first shock the realisation sat in for both of them what this meant for them.

Since they had bought the house John had had a full time job as a doctor, because he had never known how many cases he would work with Sherlock and how much money he would get out of them and he needed a secure and steady income. There had been times when Sherlock got a really interesting case and he couldn't join him because he had to work. That wouldn't happen any more. The next day he asked his boss to adjust his contract to 50 %.

Sherlock had never cared if his job brought much money. For him alone it had always been enough and the payment had never been a criteria when he chose his cases. When they had started to plan how and where they would live it had started to dawn on him, that maybe he needed to start thinking about money a little more, now that he had to contribute to support this family. The prospect of spending his time observing rich bankers' wives committing adultery had sent shivers down his spine. That he could continue to choose his cases freely and that Mary and John would be really flexible in their schedule to help him was a gift he was more than thankful for.

A few days later Sherlock sat in a taxi on the way back to John's and Mary's house. "You get ten pounds extra if you get there on time!" he had told the driver. He had been in the lab at Bart's and done some research related to his latest case when he realised that he had forgotten the time. He was supposed to take Rose over from Mary this evening because she had her first night shift after her maternal leave and John was working that evening as well. He was in for trouble if he wasn't on time.  
His phone rang. Greg Lestrade. He answered the phone.  
"I'm not going to use this for anything..." Greg said without a greeting. "But after years of putting up with you I want you to know that I just became aware that you blabbed last week..."  
"I did what...?" Sherlock went through the whole evening Mary had done her big job and wondered what went wrong.  
"You told me John and Mary both worked" Greg said. "Then it turned out she was out with a friend..."  
"I just... Misspoke!" Sherlock said.  
"No, you didn't!" Greg said. "You never do! I don't know what went on there, but you said that for a reason..."  
"If you think I don't misspeak, why would I accidentally blab something?" Sherlock tried again.  
"I don't know, maybe you were distracted?" Greg answered. "Look, Sherlock, as I said I'm not going to use this, I don't care what Mary really did that evening. I just wanted to use this one chance to show you that this time you made a mistake and I realised it."

When the phone call ended Sherlock stared out of the window. This would never have happened to him... Before...  
He knew why it had happened.  
When Greg had called that evening he had sat in an armchair in John's and Mary's living room and Rose had just fallen asleep on his lap. Her head snuggled into his hand. He had seen that she resembled Mary the first time he saw her. Now that he had time - and nothing else to do but to watch her - he realised just how many of John's features she had as well. She was the amalgamation of the two most important people in the world for him.  
She seemed to dream something unsettling because the sucking on her pacifier got more hectically. He stroke the slowly growing blonde fluff on her head with his thumb and she relaxed again on his lap.  
Sherlock had never felt that he belonged to anyone. He liked his parents and Mycroft in some way but he had never really felt that they were all part of a groupe, their family, that he belonged to. He had had some acquaintances or even maybe friends that he had gotten along with quite well during his life but he had never been part of a circle of friends. Now the Watsons had made him part of their family and he knew that that was where he belonged. At that moment his phone had vibrated and he had succeeded to fish it out of his pocket without waking Rose.  
He stared out of the car window at the suburban houses they passed. Greg was right. He had been distracted, distracted by that warm fuzzy, happy feeling that was taking over his body when he thought about Rose, Mary and John.  
That was dangerous in his job. He couldn't afford mistakes like that. He felt nauseated when he remembered that he had always known about that problem and about the consequences he had always drawn from that... Before...  
The reached their destination. He paid the cabby and hasted up the stairs. John and Mary were ready to leave, he got some instructions on when Rose had been nursed last and how old her diaper was. They hugged (they had learned how hugging with three people could work without getting each other's arms in each other's ways and without one standing aside awkwardly until the other two were finished) and John and Mary kissed him goodbye hastily. He closed his eyes when he felt their lips on his. He wished they had lingered longer, but they had to get going and for them it was a good bye like every other when they parted for just a few hours. John and Mary didn't know what was on Sherlock's mind right now. He had Rose in his arms, when the door fell shut behind them.  
He swallowed, he still felt nauseated with the thought that he should...  
Rose smiled at him. She recognized him, beside John and Mary he was the person she had the closest attachment to. He still felt John's and Mary's lips on his from when they had kissed him goodbye.  
"No, I shouldn't at all!" he said to Rose. He lifted her over his head with both arms. "You know, Rose, missing you and John and Mary would be a much bigger distraction than loving you! Do you understand that?" She obviously did. She smiled an even bigger toothless baby smile and drooled down right in his face.  
Sherlock wiped her spit away with his sleeve. This would all work out fine but he had to take care that his criminal opponents never saw him in a situation like this.

**Author's Note:**

> I googled how much assassins earn. It's scaringly little!  
> I have three explanation why Mary gets so much more:  
> 1\. Most people who kill others for money do it for their dealer who wants to get rid of the competition. They don't get much more than their next few fixes for it. These guys really pull the medium payment down. The professional ones like Mary get much more.  
> 2\. Even the highest numbers I found are so low that you wouldn't be able to buy a house with that where I live, let alone in London, let alone in the Baker Street area. My explanation is that Mary is so good that the journalists who wrote the articles I found would never find out about her killings and the amount of her payment. She just works for organizations and people (like Mycroft and the British secret service) who don't exactly talk to journalists about their budget for getting people out of the way.  
> 3\. Literary license.


End file.
